Can ADHD Get Worse With Stress? Here’s What to Know

I get this question a lot, from both parents with ADHD and from parents of kids with ADHD, but it’s “Can ADHD get worse with stress?” 

And the short answer is yes, stress can definitely worsen your ADHD symptoms. 

Stress and ADHD have a multidirectional relationship—ADHD symptoms can increase stress, but stress can also worsen ADHD symptoms, such as causing sleep problems, impairing your body’s stress response, and increasing inflammation.

So, what can you do to lessen your stress and allow your ADHD to be the superpower it is?

5 Ways to Manage Stress When You Have ADHD

Rather than focusing on only treating your ADHD symptoms, it’s important to learn how to reduce and even prevent stress.

Here are some of the main ways I recommend parents and kids with ADHD manage their stress:

#1. Identify and Manage Your Stress Triggers

The first step in managing your stress when you have ADHD is by paying attention to your stress levels, how it’s affecting your ADHD symptoms (or your child’s), and what that looks like. By managing your stress, you’re recognizing the science, you’re finding the root cause, you’re creating a stress reduction plan, and you’re addressing those triggers right away.

When it comes to ADHD, we’re lacking or very weak in our executive functioning skills. By identifying your stress triggers, you’re able to take a step backward to assess what’s helping and what’s causing you to derail and better manage your stress in general.

#2. Add Stress Management to Your Daily Routine

Next, you want to include a daily stress management practice into your daily routine such as breathing, exercise, yoga, or simply walking. You’ve got to find some way of doing stress management before it becomes too much.

While movement was what worked for me, it’s important to find what works for you!

#3. Focus on Lifestyle Changes

What are you doing that’s causing the overwhelm for you or your child? What are they doing that’s causing them to be overwhelmed? Find the lifestyle changes you can make based on this information.

It could be creating a healthier diet and making sure they’re providing their body the nutrients it needs to function optimally. When you eat clean foods, your body and brain starts creating better receptors between those executive functioning skills (and those happy hormones).

#4. Seek Professional Support

Talk to your doctor, discuss your stress and ADHD symptoms, or work with an ADHD coach. An ADHD coach is somebody who knows exactly the type of ADHD you have and how they can help you or how they can help you reduce your symptoms of stress with ADHD.

#5. Build a Strong Support System

This is a big one, but you want to focus on really building a community and a strong support system by spending time with friends and family members who understand your ADHD and can provide you with emotional support. 

When you have a support system, and you’re willing to work on your ADHD, it’s going to make a huge difference!

Stress and ADHD: How to Build Systems to Support You

The first step is recognizing why you’re getting stressed—the second step is preventing the stress from building up and affecting your ADHD. When you’re navigating stress and ADHD, they’re so closely tied together that you have to pay attention to when, why, and how it’s impacting you to make a real difference.

Build your routines, focus on the positive, and lean on your support system—and if you need help or support, reach out! I’m an ADHD coach and tutor for students and would love to help you navigate your ADHD and allow it to be the superpower it is! Book a free consultation here.